IF YOU happened to be at Banks Brewing in Seaford last weekend, you would have heard Luke Beveridge singing a few songs on stage with blues and roots band Tillerman Pete.
While some of his players headed out of Melbourne or interstate for the early season bye, the Western Bulldogs coach watched Essendon play on Saturday night before using the following night for one of his other passions.
Beveridge co-wrote a song titled “Tooth ‘n’ Nail” with musician Andrew Kidman in February, then sang a few bars of it on Fox Footy after the Opening Round win over the reigning premiers.
The Dogs reached the bye 3-0 for just the second time in Beveridge’s 12 seasons at the helm, after beating Brisbane at the Gabba, Greater Western Sydney at home and Adelaide at Adelaide Oval – three teams that played finals in 2025 – to be one of the early teams to beat in 2026.
Luke Beveridge speaks to Western Bulldogs players during round two, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos
Beveridge said the challenge of having a 16-day break so early in the season is making sure the mindset is right ahead of the Easter Sunday night fixture against the Bombers, especially against a side that hasn’t won this year and is currently on a 16-game losing streak.
“It’s part of the challenge. Two weeks into a game against a club that’s had a significant amount of commentary around their performances, and there’s a pretty decent amount of ridicule as we as we know, it’s all out there. So, we’ve got a big challenge to make sure that our own preparation is on point. I think we’ve trained really well but today is an important session still three days out from Sunday. We didn’t need it [the early season bye],” Beveridge said on Thursday.
“We’ve been spruiked a little bit at the moment just purely because of our ladder position. There’s a vulnerability in that. When you’re down at the lower end of the ladder and things aren’t going so well, in a sense it can be all bets are off. It can be really dangerous if you haven’t got your wits about you. Critically in the early stages of the game to make sure that teams don’t get the wind in their sails.”
Veteran midfielder Adam Treloar is being considered to replace Tom Liberatore for his first game at AFL level since round 15 last year, but likely to need more time in the VFL.
The 2024 All-Australian underwent a long indoor warm-up on Thursday before joining the main group for most of the session.
Treloar was restricted to just four senior games last year due to repeat calf strains, but made it back to play in the VFL premiership with Footscray last September. More interruptions late in the pre-season have delayed his return to the side.
Cody Weightman is on track to return in the VFL within the next month after making inroads in recent weeks, following a nightmare run of knee injuries.
The 25-year-old hasn’t played since the 2024 elimination final loss to Hawthorn due to a handful of knee operations, but Beveridge said the livewire forward has turned the corner since transitioning back into the main group last month.
Ed Richards (left) and Cody Weightman at Western Bulldogs training on January 16, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos
“He’s getting through a lot more training, which is very, very encouraging. You know what I think we forget what sort of player Cody is. He’s just such an influential player for us, so to miss him for a whole year and then the prospect of him maybe playing again in maybe a month or so is quite exciting for him,” Beveridge said.
“We’ve got to make sure we set him up to succeed. He’s missed so much footy, but he’s involved in more and more drills as the weeks go by and we’re building him up to probably playing some state league footy in around about that timeline.
